


I don’t know but I’ve been told...

by RunMarmiteRun



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Gen, I suppose this is veering into a bit alternate universe? Not sure?, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2020-12-31 01:02:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21028568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunMarmiteRun/pseuds/RunMarmiteRun
Summary: Kid zoms are the worst...But who else do you play with when the other bluebells are busy with their badges and you’re actually two years younger than everyone thinks you are?





	1. Chapter 1

Five wasn’t anything like her mum. But she was a lot like her mum. It was strange. Since the Girl Guides had become friendly with Abel, Adora had been following Five around a lot. Well, to be fair she got a bit underfoot with everyone. Adora wasn’t even really her name but that was what she’d picked when the Bluebells had found her. She’d gotten through those first few weeks after by pretending to be the princess of power, and whacking the...things...with the weird samurai sword she’d picked up from the takeaway window display had worked when they got too close, so now she was Adora. It was hard to remember a time before the zoms now actually. She’d only been 6 when it started although everyone had always thought she was older because she was just so tall.

The headmaster had closed down the village school, just told everyone to go home. All the public places had been closed, some kind of flu had been the reason. Her mum had been constantly checking her phone and putting on the telly, then turning it off or something when she came in at first. It was getting harder to remember her mum at all now. It had been nearly two years. Adora was eight or so now, surely her birthday had to have come and gone somewhere judging by the leaves. Of course she’d learned quickly to tell people she was older... most everyone thought she was 10. It wasn’t wrong to let people think the wrong thing sometimes to stay alive was something she did remember her mum saying, that hurried packing for the “camping trip” they’d done and then just setting out with backpacks on when the car got stuck in traffic on the M road. She had the nightmare still sometimes, her mum saying run. Maybe that’s why Five reminded her of her mum though. When things got really tough her mum had gotten quieter, and told her that silence was strength. Mum had been strong. When she’d told her to run it had been the first time she’d talked in close to a week, and her leg had been bitten by something... Anyways, best not think on that now. Things to be done. There were badges to earn today. Free time to work on your own even. Adora had looked through the tattered book trying to find one. She knew some of them were actually well beyond her skills. She’d always been a quick learner, she’d been reading the Paddington omnibus by age 5 and honestly didn’t remember not being able to read, and being tall had helped her pass for older when she’d run into the Bluebells, they’d just shouted at her for being out of uniform and thinking quickly she’d said her mum had forgotten to pack it. They’d managed to cobble one together for her over time from spare bits but if you looked closely you could see parts that weren’t official. That wasn’t as obvious anymore since they were making their own badges and having to repair things though.

The kitchen staff had been flustered and muttered something at her and kicked her out quickly, Margery was apparently out running with 4 and Five and having a brill time from the eavesdropping she’d done at the comms shack door. Nothing for it, then. Plant identification again. One of the first things her mum had taught her was how to avoid nettles and some edible plants, she’d salvaged a field guide to wild plants, and so apparently botanical stuff was going to be her thing. Phooey. Something more exciting would have been good.

Out in the woods, then. Adora had the notebook in hand. She’d gotten most of the basic things, had been concerned mostly with edibles of course. She’d steered clear of mushrooms because the guidebook warned several times about not trying to do anything with mushrooms and she remembered vaguely her mum always telling her faery stories involving kidnapped children stepping into mushroom rings, silly but there were zombies, who says there weren’t maybe actually faeries out there?

Adora heard some rustling across the creek. Automatically she looked up. Deer. Not a problem. Couldn’t get too relaxed out here but deer were a good sign, where there were deer rambling usually there weren’t many zoms.

Dock was everywhere, acorns, lots of basics. Nothing new. Supposed to be some edible ferns and some things that are useful for tisanes and medicinal tea but judging from tracks and such there must be a creek bed near...hmm, maybe animal tracking badge? No wait, picked that one up already. Badger tracks, want to be careful of holes. What’s this with the drag mark though?


	2. Into the Woods

The drag mark looked like it belonged to someone walking mostly upright, kind of like when her granddad used to be too tired, but these are small feet. Bored with looking for plants, maybe this could be a spot of fun.

Adora followed the track, careful to still listen for noises. There were some rustling and sort of grunts ahead. Ooh, perhaps a pig? Pig tracks shouldn’t really look like this but you know maybe it had something stuck to its feet from escaping a farm.

There, in a small clearing. It was another kid! Looks like maybe a boy about 10 or 11? “Hey, hey you!” Adora didn’t shout, she used what she called her carrying whisper. He didn’t turn round though, just kind of more grunting. Oh man, perhaps he was boy crying?

Then she noticed the dog. It was just sitting there, staring at the boy.


End file.
